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Wednesday, 1 October 2014

The final Group Stage contest of the Oppo CLT20 2014 turned out to a thrilling contest, as the Barbados Tridents defeated the Northern Knights by six wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. After putting the opposition in, the Caribbean side did well to restrict their Kiwi opponents to 135 for 8 in their allotted 19 overs and then chased the runs down with two balls to spare. The six-wicket win was the Barbados Tridents’ only win in the competition, while the Northern Knights finished their CLT20 campaign with four wins and three defeats (including the three wins in the Qualifiers). (Also Read: QUICK STATS: M19 - PERTH SCORCHERS V LAHORE LIONS)

Set a target of 138 – worked out using the Duckworth & Lewis method – the Barbados Tridents had contributions all-round, before James Franklin finished it off in style. Openers Dilshan Munaweera (20) and Raymon Reifer (15) persevered against some testing bowling by Tim Southee and Trent Boult to provide a platform; the first wicket pair added 31 before they were separated at the start of the fifth over.

Jason Holder, promoted to number three, contributed 11, before Jonathan Carter scored 30 to climb to the top of the Golden Bat list. The 26-year old Carter, with scores of 111 and 42 behind him, was batting fluently and appeared to be at ease before a superlative tag-team effort at the midwicket boundary – involving Anton Devcich and Daryl Mitchell - terminated his innings; he was involved in a 56-run partnership with James Franklin.

Elton Chigumbura, who replaced Carter in the middle, struggled to find the boundary, allowing the required rate to climb. However, the immensely experienced Franklin held his nerve, and deposited the first ball of the final over – bowled by Tim Southee – into the stands. A couple of singles later, the 33-year old Franklin finished things in style when he swung a full-toss into the midwicket fence. Franklin remained unbeaten on 33, Chigumbura made 18 and the fifth wicket pair added 33 runs in 3.2.

For the Knights, the leg-spinner Ish Sodhi finished the most successful bowler, with figures of 3 for 18.

After being put in to bat, the Northern Knights struggled for momentum for most part of their innings. Anton Devcich held one end up scoring 47. The left-handed opener, who struck seven boundaries on the night, scored freely against Ashley Nurse, Jason Holder, Rayad Emrit and Akeal Hosein – accumulating 40 runs from 28 balls, but was kept quiet by Kyle Mayers and Dilshan Munaweera, scoring only seven runs off 19 balls from the two bowlers.

Skipper Daniel Flynn hit one boundary and a six in his 18-ball 21. Soon after his dismissal, the skies opened up forcing the players off the field. When play resumed – with the match reorganized as a 19-over contest – the Knights lost Devcich and Scott Styris in the same over to leave two new men at the crease.

If not for BJ Watling and Tim Southee, who took a few chances at the end, the Northern Knights might not have even surpassed 120. Watling hit three boundaries and a six, and ran well between the wickets in his 19-ball 29, while Southee hit three boundaries in his 10-ball 19. The Knights added 46 runs in their last four overs, even though they lost four wickets in that period.

Ravi Rampaul, with returns of 3 for 34, was the most successful bowler for the Tridents, while Emrit and Munaweera chipped in with two wickets each.

Man of the Match: James Franklin, for his unbeaten 25-ball 33.Emrit: "It's just overwhelming to get over the line finally. We've come so close in all our games, and it was great to get there. The effort in the field was great. The guys came out here to win, and we did that. Franklin and Chigumbura have a wealth of experience, and we knew they could do it."Flynn: "We were probably 15-20 runs light. We bowled reasonably well, and kept ourselves in the game. We just didn't really get off to the best of the starts with the bat. We had high hopes after the start we had in this tournament, and we're disappointed."source: clt20.com